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Honing Language, Prepping for Bejing

Posted on Wednesday, August 01, 2012

This summer, Melissa Hosek '14 is attending Middlebury Summer Chinese School for eight weeks. The school's language policy is so strict that students have to sign a pledge promising to only communicate in Chinese. An Asian studies and political science double major, Hosek will participate in the study abroad program in Beijing this fall to study Chinese language and culture.

"Going into college, I knew I wanted to major in a language because I loved my high school Spanish and French classes," she explains. "However, I wanted to learn something very different. I took Chinese 101 in my first fall and loved the language. It was then that I knew one of my majors would be Asian Studies."

After college, Hosek is looking to pursue a government position that helps build friendly relations between China and the United States. Her time at Middlebury Summer Chinese School, and her time abroad in Beijing this coming fall, will "help me towards that goal by empowering me to gain a greater understanding of China's language and culture," says Hosek.

On campus Hosek is an active member of the HWS Debate club, Project Nur and Close Knit. She also helped found and lead the HWS Newman Club. She is also a technology fellow in the Digital Learning Center.